A political scientist in Georgia says the runoff victory by Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss last night over Democratic challenger Jim Martin may give the GOP some sorely needed momentum heading into 2010.
Senator Chambliss said last night his landslide win was an affirmation of "conservative Georgia values" and tried to bill the runoff as the first contest of the 2010 election cycle. (See related video) University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock says Republicans may pick up on that theme nationwide. Bullock says Tuesday's election demonstrated that Republicans do a much more efficient job of getting their voters to return for a runoff. "We've had several of these general election runoffs in Georgia over the last 20 years, and in each instance the Republicans succeeded," notes Bullock. "The message [that] was stressed by Saxby Chambliss in his own ads, as well as [in] those which were run on his behalf, warned of the negative consequences of having Democrats possibly have 60 seats in the Senate." Bullock believes the ads Chambliss ran helped convinced Georgia voters they needed a check on the new president and the Democratic majority in Congress on issues such as taxes, union organization, and Second Amendment rights. The balance of power in the Senate now stands at 58-41, a 17-seat advantage for Democrats, with one race still undecided in Minnesota between comedian Al Franken and incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman.
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